She could see it in everyone's faces. The federation wasn't a military branch and even if everyone was trained in some combat form they were not soldiers. Lydia could hear her heart and could barely breathe. No one was ready for what they were going to find but they were going to be as ready as possible.

"Arrival at Vulcan in five seconds!" Lydia felt Jim come to stand next to her and hold her hand. As much as this was hard for everyone, Lydia and Jim were about to see the people who killed their fathers. She held his hand as hard as she could. "Four... three... two—"

As the Enterprise dropped out of warp, they enter what could only be described as a war zone.

"Emergency Evasive!"

"On it."

Sulu moves the Enterprise like it was made for his hands. As the ship dips and spins around the debris Lydia felt the ship taking some hits. As long as it wasn't anything deep Lydia knew that the Enterprise would hold. She was shacking, her whole body was shacking and she didn't know how to stop. She felt Jim squeezing her hand as the watched the ship floating over Vulcan. This was it the last thing their dads saw before they died. This ship. Now this ship was here in Vulcan for some reason.

"Captain, they're locking torpedoes," Spock told Pike.

"Full reverse, come about Starboard ninety degrees! Drop us down underneath them! Prepare to fire all weapons."

With amazing precision Sulu is able to move the Enterprise to dodge the torpedo. Still, it hits the ship. Lydia can see it in one of the computers on the bridge. The deflector dish and the main dish are damage and there is a hole on her ship. The damage is small but it will affect the ship without a doubt.

"Shields at thirty-two percent! Their weapons are powerful, Sir, we can't take another hit like that!"

No, Sulu was right, the Enterprise was not going to take another hit. Taking over a computer on the bridge, Lydia started relaying some power towards the shields.

"Get me Starfleet Command," Pike yell trying to keep order on the bridge.

"Captain, the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere- its signal appears to be blocking our communications and transporter abilities!"

"All power to forward shields – prepare to fire all weapons!"

Lydia knew what she was doing. She had been part of the team that had put the main frame for the Enterprise together. As she diverted the power, she also check on the maintenance and security systems. The ship was taking a lot of damage and she needed to make sure that there was no system failure especially on the crucial survival systems.

"Divert auxiliary power from port nacelle to the shields-!"

"Captain, we're being hailed!" With a nod to Uhura, he turned to the view screen. With a few works at the control a man appeared on the screen.

"Hello." Lydia looked up at the voice and moved to stand next to Jim. This couldn't be, could it?

"I am Captain Christopher Pike, to whom am I speaking?"

"I am called Nero."

It was like Jim and Lydia lost their breath at the exact same time. This was him. This was the man that murdered their fathers. For a moment, the bridge could feel the tension and almost hate that came from these two. None of the crew knew this of course but this man had change all of their lives some for the better other for the worst.

"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw, and I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral loca—"

"I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member... isn't that right? Spock?"

All eyes on Spock. Spock looked to Pike, who gave his permission, so Spock stepped forward.

"Pardon me," said Spock directing himself to Nero. "But I don't believe you and I are acquainted."

"... no, we're not. Not yet. I would like you to see something. Spock. Captain Pike- your transporter capability is disabled. You will man a shuttle and come aboard the Narada for negotiations. That is all."

Then the wide screen went black. Transmission ended.

"He'll kill you, you know that…" "Your survival is unlikely…" "Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy going over to that" "I, too, suggest you rethink" "ship is a mistake." "this strategy."

How two people could speak so differently and yet say the exact same thing was beyond Lydia.

"I understand that," Captain Pike said to them. Then loudly to the bridge, he continued. "I need officers who have been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat!"

Sulu's hand went up as he said, "I have training, Sir!"

"Then come with me. Kirk, you too, you're not supposed to be here anyway." Turning to Chekov he said, "Radio the engine room, have Chief Engineer Olsen meet us at Shuttle Bay Five. Lydia come with us as well."

"Aye, Keptin."

"Let's go."

As the moved through the Enterprise Pike kept giving them orders about one thing and another. Lydia tried to keep up but she knew she wasn't going down to the antenna so she had to focus on other things.

"Something you've got only precious few minutes to figure out. If all else fails, fall back and rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian System. Kirk. I'm promoting you to First Officer."

"What!?" "Captain?" That got Lydia's attention.

"While I'm gone we need to keep the chain of command. And you two make a swell team."

"Captain. Please. I apologize, but the complexities of human pranks escape me."

"It's not a prank, Spock. And I'm not the Captain. You are."

"Once we knock out that machine... Sir, what happens to you?"

"I guess you'll have to come get me." Turning to Spock he said, "Careful with the ship. She's brand new." Then to Lydia he said, "Make sure she is back to top shape when I get back."

As bravery washed over them, they watch as their captain walked away. Spock and Lydia turned to each other before going back to the bridge.

"If you could use one of the computers on the bridge is there any way...?"

"I know how to do my job Spock don't worry."

With cold certainty, Spock took the command chair and he turned to the comms. Lydia took over one of the computers at the bridge scanning and running all the system checks she could think off.

"Dr. Puri, report."

"It's McCoy- Dr. Puri was on Deck 6, he's dead."

"Then you have just inherited his responsibility as Chief Medical Officer."

"Yeah tell me something I don't know."

Lydia kept working. It seemed like the damage was more structural than internal and she could work with that. As long as the internal core stayed complete then the rest was cosmetic. She needed to make sure the holes were patched up after that she could work on everything else.

"This is Lieutenant Lydia can anyone hear me? I repeat this is Lieutenant Lydia from the bridge can anyone hear me?"

"We are here Lieutenant we can hear you."

"Good we have two hull breaches that need immediate attention. Can someone repair those?"

"We are on our way."

Alright I will take care of everything that I can from this end."

"Got it Lieutenant." The engineering department got to work. It would take a moment to get everything under control. Yet this was what she was good at. Lydia knew how to make things work this was her thing. She concentrated on everything in front of her and left the bridge behind. She couldn't worry about Jim right now.

"Lieutenant we have one of the breaches patch up. We are moving to the next one."

"Perfect I need someone to stay there to relay what is happening as I work."

She could hear Uhura in the background. Jim had done it. They had brought the thing down. She kept working on the panel that had been destroyed when the ship had been under attack.

Finishing the first panel, she moved to the second breach. The team had finished repairing it and she could now make sure that everything was up to standard while the took care of other smaller things.

"Keptin: gravitational sensors are off the scale - if my calculations are correct, that pod they launched is creating a singularity... that will consume the planet."

That made her stop and turned back to the bridge.

"A black hole? To destroy Vulcan?"

Seeming to have forgotten she was there, they turned towards her a little surprise.

"Yes," Chekov said.

Spock, who had been frozen when Lydia talked, seemed to have come back into himself to ask, "How long does the planet have?"

"... minutes, Sir. I'd say minutes."

"Alert Vulcan Command Center to signal a planet wide evacuation- all channels, all frequencies - maintain standard orbit –"

"What? Spock, wait... where are you going?"

"To evacuate the Vulcan High Council. They're tasked with protecting our cultural history. My parents will be among them."

"You can't beam them out?"

"It's not possible - they'll be in the Katrik Arc, I must get them myself—"

As the door closed, Uhura turned toward Lydia.

"He will be alright Uhura just do what he asked you to do." She said taking Uhura's hands in hers. She could see her friend losing it for a minute and Lydia knew Uhura hated looking weak. It was something they had in common. "Uhura we have a job to do, we fall apart after. Come on."

With a nod, Uhura got back to work. She knew who that man on the screen was to Lydia and Jim. If Lydia could work through it then so could she. So she made the announcement Spock wanted her to do and looked back at her friend who once more sat in front of the computer to continued her job.

"I gotcha! Now pull my chute. Enterprise we are falling without a chute! Beam us up!"

"I can do that."

Lydia listen as Chekov ran because Jim was falling. Without a chute, and the ground coming towards him fast. It was as if she couldn't breathe for a minute or a lifetime. What would she do if she lost him? She couldn't lose him too.

Then everything happened so fast. Jim and Sulu were back on the Enterprise. Spock had gone down and come back without one important person. The Enterprise flew away as they watched Vulcan consume itself until nothing is there but darkness.